S.Atlantic : Sartma Daily (23/08/05)
Submitted by SARTMA.com (Juanita Brock) 23.08.2005 (Article Archived on 06.09.2005)

A quick run-down of South Atlantic news.

SARTMA DAILY (23/08/05)

Websites:  http://www.falklandnews.com. http://www.tristantimes.com, http://www.the-islander.org.ac, http://www.sartma.com, http://www.news.co.sh

CONTENTS

Section 1:  Article by FINN

                 One to One with Brian Summers

Section 2:  Business News from St. Helena

Section 3:  Relevant Internet News

Section 4:  Announcements

Section 5:  FIRS News Direct

Section 1:

GORDON FORBES CASE COSTS FIG NEARLY £2 MILLION

By J. Brock (FINN)

The true costs incurred by FIG in the Gordon Forbes case have been revealed at a public meeting held at 1700 on Tuesday, 23 August 2005 in the Court and Council Chamber.  Though the judgment in the case is not yet published, FIG made public in Standing Finance Committee notes that over six financial years, £1,851,832 had been spent and that to date, £1,922,816.00 were paid in legal fees out of a budget of  £1,951,816.00.

When asked about the expenditure and whether amore cost-effective method could be found to deal with the Forbes claim, by Mr. Roger Spink, Cllr. Mike Summers said that the original Forbes claim was for £3.6 Million and that FIG still would be on positive ground after having whittled the amount awarded down to less than half a million Pounds.  He went on to say that if they had just given Mr. Forbes the money, there was a possibility of further suits against FIG by the building contractor.

FIG are hopeful that the legal wrangling can be sorted sooner rather than later, though this will not be clear until the judgment is handed down.

ONE TO ONE WITH BRIAN SUMMERS

A Report for FIRS by Amy Johnson (AJ) 23/08/05)

My guest in the studio today is Brian Summers (BS) from Cable & Wireless. 

BS:  There are two main projects.  One is the replacement telephone exchange and the other one is GSM mobile telephones.  The first one starting off in the next month is the replacement of the telephone exchange and one of the first things that will happen is we are changing the type of signalling.  The noticeable thing from a user point of view is that if you make overseas international telephone calls, you will no longer hear the peep.  And, you should notice that when you call internationally that the ringing will go straight through and the connection should be quicker.  Probably early in the new-year we will have the new exchange in and broadband internet will become available.  But right now we don’t know what the pricing regime will be for that.  We also get ISDN and that is mainly used – it can be used for data.  The Hospital is very interested in that for telly-medicine.  And, the other thing we get with the new telephone exchange is the caller line identity.  So, if you are in Stanley and you have a telephone with a display on it, you will get the number of the person calling you.  If you don’t you can find out who has been calling whilst you are out by dialling 147. 

The next thing we are looking at is GSM mobile telephones.  That’s quite a big project.  And, we had mixed views at the Planning and Building Committee Meeting today.  We had two sites approved and one site has been deferred.  That’s the central Stanley site.  There seems to be a lot of concerns about the health risks from mobile bay stations, which Dr. Diggle confirmed at the meeting today, were minimal.  You are at more risk from your actual mobile phone.  Once again, the pricing hasn’t been finalised but we will have pre-paid packages and post paid.  And, roaming won’t be available until early to mid next year.  But we will have voice mail.  So, if your phone is not switched on, people can leave messages for you.  And, we will have text messaging.

The one reason that pricing has not yet been agreed is that we are working very closely with the Government’s appointed advisor, Dr. Doyle.  I understand he is coming down again some time during September.  And, we are working very closely with him and the Falkland Islands Government in setting prices.  Until he has been down and we have had meetings with him, we can’t announce what the prices will be for broadband and for mobile because they are all part of the on-going negotiations with Government.  And also we are looking at reducing the cost of international telephone calls.  But again, that’s another one of these things we are discussing with Dr. Doyle.

AJ:  you say the phones are going to have extra features like 1471.  Will the charges have to go up to reflect that?

BS:   As far as I know, everyone will have the caller line identity enabled on their telephones for no extra cost.  There are some other features that will be chargeable but it’s very much you pay when you use it.  Once we start introducing these features, we will tell people what is available and how to use them, etc. 

AJ:  The mobile phone network, will that just be in town for a start?

BS:  We are planning for it to cover Stanley and Mt. Pleasant and most of the road in between.  It’s a standard UK type mobile phone system, if you have a mobile handset that you use in the UK, providing it’s not locked to a particular network, you will be able to take the little sim card out and replace it with one of our sim cards.  There’s a fair degree of certainty that places like Fitzroy will be covered.  I am not sure about Bluff Cove, probably Walker Creek, Goose Green is probably on the limits but there’s a fair chance that Goose Green will get it.  Places like Lively Island, almost certainly and possibly even Bleaker Island and all the little places that are out there like Swan Inlet and probably the little homesteads around the Fitzroy Ridge Area.  They will fall within the footprint.

AJ:  But nothing out of that area at the moment?

BS:  Nothing out of those sort of areas at the moment.

AJ:  Do you have plans to expand?

BS:  Not at the moment.  The one thing is that we needed good communications background to actually connect back into Stanley, back into the exchange.  And, it’s not the sort of thing that can b carried on the Camp Radio system but the Camp Radio System will be replaced in the foreseeable future when the technology is available.  The radio system we have hasn’t been manufactured now for four years but we are still able to repair all the cards.  And, to be honest, there is not another system commercially available, to replace it right now. The newer systems that are out there don’t provide any significant advantages over what the current system is at the moment.  And, the newer systems require greater power and its possible that we wouldn’t be able to run them on solar panels and batteries and wind charges that we are doing now.  We probably would need something a bit bigger.  Some of the systems that are available are using a much higher frequency so we would need extra repeater stations, etc.  Along with the Government’s consultant, we are keeping a very close eye on it.

AJ:  Why mobile phones in the first place?  How did this idea come about?

BS:  We have been under pressure on and off for some time for mobile phones, particularly from the Military at Mount Pleasant.  There was a suggestion, about four years ago that they would bring Vodaphone down here to run mobile phones for the Military only at Mount Pleasant.  That never materialised.  We are one of the few countries in the world that doesn’t have a mobile phone system.  We have just found a system that is small enough to operate with our population and we are really looking to include Mount Pleasant in it.  And, all the service men and women at Mount Pleasant are really crucial to the success of the venture.

AJ:  So you can still make overseas calls with the mobile phones?

BS:  You will still be able to make overseas calls with your mobile phones and we are hoping to use the mobiles’ introduction as a way of reducing prices internationally.

AJ:  Could you text internationally as well?

BS:  You will be able to text internationally but that won’t be available until April or May of next year.  It will then be available both ways.

AJ:  So does this entail the change of lots of extra equipment?

BS:  It does.  It’s quite expensive.  The project will cost several million Pounds.  We will have – or it is our aim to have three bay stations in Stanley, one on Sappers Hill, one on Mt. Pleasant Peak and, ideally, one at a location to be finally agreed with the Military at Mount Pleasant, within Mount Pleasant.

AJ:  Will that mean extra staff?

BS:  We will be able to run it with our existing staff.  It’s going to be very intensive whilst the installation phase is going on.  But all of this equipment has a back-up.  We are going to be putting in stand-by generators to supplement the batteries and things that are at each site.  All the sites require quite a lot of power – I think typically up to 7kba but that’s mainly to run the air conditioning.  We’ve got to keep it cool.  It seems a bit silly here in the Falklands that we are having to put in air conditioning but the equipment has to be kept at a reasonable temperature.  And, the most efficient way of doing it is to supply cooling.  And, it will be cooling they require and the huts will not require heaters because the equipment will generate more than sufficient heat.

AJ:  if everything goes to plan, then, when could the mobile phones be up and running?

BS:  We would like to see the first phone in and working by Christmas.  That’s a very ambitious programme but with the problems with our central site in Stanley – the key site in Stanley – that has been deferred until the next meeting of the Planning and Building Committee –that may push us back.  Mount Pleasant would follow weeks later.  It all depends on the successful outcome to planning.

(100X Transcription and Monitoring Service)

Section 2:

BUSINESS NEWS FROM ST. HELENA

2005 General Election

Polling Day is 31 August 2005. This is the day when all registered electors who are on the 2005 Register of Electors may go to the poll and vote for the person or persons they wish to represent them on Legislative Council.

Polling Stations will be set up at the Jamestown, Harford and Levelwood Community Centres as well as at Judge’s Lodge for the East Electoral Area. The candidates for this area are: Eric Benjamin, Rodney Buckley, William Drabble, Stedson George, Brian Isaac, Bernice Olsson and Robert Robertson.

Polling Stations will also be set up at the Half Tree Hollow, Kingshurst, Blue Hill and Sandy Bay Community Centres for the West Electoral Area. The candidates for this area are: Eric Andrews, Stedson Francis, Eric George MBE, Cyril Gunnell, Anthony Leo, Victor Lines, John Reid, Lionel Williams and Mervyn Yon.

Those of you in the East Electoral area can vote for six candidates who have been nominated to serve in that electoral area, and likewise those in the West electoral area can also vote for six candidates to serve in their electoral area. To be able to vote, you must be on the 2005 Register of Electors.

It is important to remember if you only wish to vote for one or two, or three, four, or five of the nominated candidates, you are at liberty to do so. Six is the maximum you can vote for.

Candidates, Proposers, Seconders and Supporters will also be entitled to vote.

All Polling Stations will open at 10am and close at 7pm.

Voting is secret and no one will know who you vote for, not even the candidates themselves, nor the officials conducting the election. At no time after you have marked your ballot paper, which will be given to you at the Polling Station by the Presiding Officer, will any candidate be able to say who did or did not vote for him or her.

Polling Station Limits will be posted around the stations and canvassing is not allowed in this area. In fact, no talking will be allowed except when voters are communicating with the Presiding and Deputy Presiding Officers.

The Election process will be carried out in strict conformity with the law. There are various offences connected with elections. These include Personation: that is where a voter passes himself off as someone else; Secrecy offences – the law states that it is a criminal offence if secrecy is not maintained; there is also the offence of Treating: this means that no person should offer any other person, either during or after an election, any food, drink, entertainment or provision for the purpose of influencing that person to vote or refrain from voting; there is also the offence of Undue Influence and Bribery: Undue Influence means that you should not threaten any person in order to induce or compel them to vote or refrain from voting. All of the offences are extremely serious and carry harsh penalties.

At the Polling Station you will find a Presiding Officer, a Deputy Presiding Officer and a Police Constable. The Police Constable is there to advise you when it is convenient for you to enter the door which will clearly be marked ‘IN’. You should go directly to the Deputy Presiding Officer’s table. There the Deputy Presiding Officer will check that you are a registered elector, and, if this is so, will direct you to the Presiding Officer’s table. The Presiding Officer will give you a ballot paper and will enquire whether or not you know how to record your vote. As soon as he is satisfied that you do know, you will be directed to the Polling Booth where you will record your vote. 

Voting procedures are as follows:

You may vote for SIX candidates only.

When the Presiding Officer hands you your ballot paper he will stamp it with an official mark.  You should make sure that it is stamped on BOTH sides.

Go into one of the Polling Booths and, with the pencil provided, place a cross on the right hand side of the ballot paper opposite the names of the six candidates for whom you vote, thus X.

Fold the ballot paper in half, so as to conceal the face of the paper on which you have marked your vote and to show the official mark on the back.

Take your ballot paper to the Presiding Officer, show him the official mark on the back and then put the ballot paper into the ballot box.  DO NOT SHOW THE FACE OF THE BALLOT PAPER TO THE PRESIDING OFFICER OR TO ANY OTHER PERSON.

If you inadvertently spoil your ballot paper, you may return it to the Presiding Officer who, if he is satisfied of such inadvertence, will give you another paper.

If you vote for more than six candidates or place any mark on your ballot paper by which you may afterwards be identified, your ballot paper will be void and will not be counted.

If a voter is blind, incapacitated or illiterate and therefore unable to mark his ballot paper himself, the Presiding Officer will, if so requested by the voter, mark it for him.

It is an offence to destroy a ballot paper or to take a ballot paper out of the Polling Station.  PENALTY:  six months imprisonment.

You must leave the Polling Station immediately after you have finished voting.

When leaving the Polling Station you should do so quietly, using the door marked ‘OUT’

If any Registered Elector is unable to attend the Polling Station because they are physically handicapped and have no ready means of transport; or they are sick and it is medically undesirable for them to travel to the Polling Station, then they can nominate a proxy to record their vote on their behalf, but they cannot nominate anyone who is already a proxy for someone else.

Proxy Forms should be returned to the Returning Officer, Ethel Yon, or the Assistant Returning Officers, Carol George and Gillian Francis by 12 noon on Friday 26 August at the latest.

If you have any queries please contact Ethel Yon, Jacky Lawrence, Carol George or Gillian Francis who will do all they possibly can to clear these up for you.

There are 2200 persons registered, so it is hoped there will be a good turnout on 31 August.

Public Relations/Information Office

Office of the Chief Secretary

22 August 2005

Section 3:

RELEVANT INTERNET NEWS

VULCAN BOMBER CHANGES HANDS – AGAIN

By J. Brock (FINN)

I wonder if pub owners in the Falklands would like to purchase a bit of history. TheVulcan bomber that damaged the runway at Stanley Airport in 1982 looks set to go up for sale again.  The UK press reports tha an agreement has been reached between Manchester pub landlord Chris Ollerenshaw and Blackpool-based pilot Brian Bateson over the aircraft’s ownership.According to several reports the men took out legal action against each other after Mr Ollerenshaw claimed he was mis-sold the aircraft, while Mr Bateson was claiming for unpaid rent for the amount of time the bomber remained on his land following its sale

.

£15,102 was bid for the Vulcan on the auction site eBay last November.It was no surprise that it was too expensive to move the huge plane from Blackpoo toMr. Ollernshaw’s  pub garden so he decided to relinquish ownership. Ollerenshaw was being charged £1,000 a week rent to keep the aircraft at Blackpool Aviation Centre after he failed to remove it by a deadline of January15. 

The bomber had been at Blackpool Airport for 21 years. Mr Bateson bought the Vulcan from the RAF in 1983 for £5,000 scrap value and put it up for sale on eBay last November in order to pave the way for redevelopment of that area of land at the airport.

This one could be interesting to watch and SARTMA will keep you posted.

WRITING ON WALL FOR MARADONNA’S HAND OF GOD

By J. Brock (FINN)

Argentine football hero Diego Maradona has confessed he is unrepentant about using his fist in a controversial goal against England in the 1986 World Cup.

He spoke on his TV show claiming the intervention, which he nicknamed "The Hand of God", was justified. "The truth is that I don't for a second regret scoring that goal with my hand," he said on the programme.  He defended his “goal” as his response to Britain's sovereignty over the Falkland Islands and said that he wanted to let Argentines and the whole world know the truth about that infamous moment in football history.  Maradona scored by punching the ball into the net during a jump as goal keeper Peter Shilton sprung towards the ball. Argentina won the match 2-1 thanks to a second Maradona goal.  England coach Bobby Robson  described the goal as "a miracle."

Maradonna referred to the Falklands War, fought unsuccessfully by Argentina against the UK to take control of the Islands it claims. His show is called La Noche del Diez (Number Ten Night) - a reference to the Number 10 shirt Maradona wore for the national side – not the score out of 10 he got for his hand trick.

Section 4:

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

The Public Works Department advises that the Moody Brook Road between the Beaver Hanger and Moody Brook will be temporarily closed for short periods in the next two weeks to allow for the installation of drainage pipe crossings.

A meeting of Legislative Council will take place on Friday, 26 August 2005 in the Court and Council Chamber of the Town Hall.  No time has been given but it is expected to be around 1000.  A full transcript will be available on Monday.

Section 5:

FIRS NEWS DIRECT: 23 AUGUST 2005

Compiled by Amy Johnson (AJ) and Stacy Bragger (SB)

HEALTH AND MEDICAL SERVICES COMMITTEE MEETING:

The Health and Medica